How India’s Solar Plans Miss the Mark

Photo credit: New York Times

Today, TheNew York Times published a story I wrote about the state of the solar industry in India. This is an issue I’ve been keeping a close eye on since arriving in Chennai, India last month. Chennai is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, and Tamil Nadu is Exhibit A in what can go wrong when a government takes a hasty and haphazard stab at something as complicated as solar energy.

After years of lagging behind China and the West in the adoption of solar power, some states in India are proposing to build solar farms at a galloping pace that leaves them at risk of falling short of electricity (a familiar problem here) or of paying higher prices for it.

In just the last five months, five Indian states have announced plans to bring giant amounts of solar power online within five years, including 1,000 megawatts in Andhra Pradesh, 350 megawatts in Rajasthan, 800 megawatts in Madhya Pradesh, 1,000 megawatts in Chhatisgarh and a whopping 3,000 megawatts in Tamil Nadu.

The story goes on to explain what happened last week when the rubber hit the road and Tamil Nadu received its bids for solar power projects. The results: underwhelming. Hit the link for more details.